A New Era

A quick look at the record books in Fed Cup history shows a slew of American power. The U.S. leads all in number of titles (seventeen), most consecutive titles (seven, from 1976 to 1982), tie wins, rubber wins, and on and on. But if you look at what's happened the past couple years, things are a little different.

Italy has played in the championships for five straight years and won three of those titles, including successfully defending this past weekend in the finals held in San Diego. The ladies from Europe took on the United States for a second year in a row and, though they ceded one rubber this time, they came away victorious yet again.

Of course you could argue that the Americans didn't send their A-team to California -- both Serena and Venus Williams had to bow out and Melanie Oudin, once considered the country's greatest prospect for the future, has since fallen out of the top fifty and wasn't even the highest ranked singles player on this year's squad.

But you still can't ignore how much the Italians have improved. Francesca Schiavone made a huge mark for the country, of course, when she became the first woman from the peninsula to not only make a Grand Slam final, but to also win one back in Paris. And though Flavia Pennetta beat her countrywoman into the top ten of the sport last year, her bigger accomplishment might have been her ascent to become half of the top-ranked doubles team in the world -- she and Argentine Gisela Dulko have won seven titles this year, including the year-end championships in Doha. Flavia and Francesca each took wins in their first two singles rubbers this past weekend, and Pennetta sealed the victory when she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in the fourth. With a 3-1 lead -- Oudin was able to defeat Schiavone on Sunday -- the doubles round was skipped, and the Italian ladies hoisted the Fed Cup trophy again.



It might be hard to count the four women who played this weekend -- Schiavone and Pennetta were joined by Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci -- as the most consistent threats on Tour, but with the highest ranks of women's tennis so diverse it's hard to pick any other country that could possibly have won this prize. And though we may not have officially entered a period of total Italian domination on the tennis courts, it sure looks like the tide is turning in that direction.

And as for any country that wants to beat them next year, well she'll really have to bring her best to the table.

Fed Cup Wrap Up

I know, I know -- I'm late! But it's like 70 degrees in New York this week and I decided to spend my time actually playing tennis rather than writing about it. Sue me!

Anyway, the first round of Fed Cup action wrapped up this past weekend, and the defending champion Russian team was quick to make their bid to repeat, while the U.S., which boasts the #1 and #6 players in the world, struggled through the opening round.

The World Group I pits eight top teams against each other -- the four winners, as is standard in Fed Cup rules, would go on to play for the title while the losers would have to battle for their right to make it back in 2010. The structure is a little strange, I admit -- as I've said before I'm not sure that the teams in this competition really represent the best of women's tennis -- or even the best of the country. Even still this weekend's action did come out largely as it should have.

Russia vs. China

Russian women have been having a good couple of years -- they boast five of the top ten spots in women's tennis, they swept the medals at last year's Olympics, and three of the four semifinalists at the Australian Open donned Russia's flag. Every member of their Fed Cup team is ranked in the top thirty globally.

China has two players in the top thirty, but their #1 Jie Zheng was forced to pull out of play with a wrist injury and Na Li sat out this year. Their best remaining player, Zi Yan, is ranked 117th in the world and has won only one singles title over three years ago.

The four singles matches were easy wins for Russia -- Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova dominated, and happily so did Anna Chakvetadze, who's been struggling for months, and Alisa Kleybanova, whose win over Ana Ivanovic in Melbourne helped her rise to a career-high ranking. The doubles match was a little closer, going to three sets, but the Russians came out on top, sweeping their first round 5-0.



U.S. vs. Argentina

Serena Williams has won the last two Grand Slams, her sister Venus won the one before that. They also took doubles titles in Australia, Beijing and Wimbledon.

Too bad neither were representing the U.S. in Fed Cup this year.

Instead, the best players we could offer were Liezel Huber, part of the best doubles team in the world but not even on the radar for singles, and Jill Craybas, a thirty-four year old veteran who's just holding onto her spot in the top hundred. The other two players on the team, Julie Ditty and Melanie Oudin are the fifth and tenth best in the country.

If possible, Argentina's team was comprised of even lesser-known talent. Other than Gisela Dulko, who I only recognize because Serena admitted she'd given her the runaround in their second round match in Melbourne, I couldn't place one other member.

Dulko won both of her singles matches, but her teammate Betina Jozami lost both of hers. It came down to the doubles match, where Huber's unquestionable talent came through -- she clinched the victory with Ditty in straight sets.



Czech Republic vs. Spain

Spain was the runner-up at last year's Fed Cup, where they were dominated by Russia. This year they were coming off some strong momentum from Australia, and could have been a real force.

Carla Suárez Navarro famously took Venus Williams out of contention at the Australian Open in just the second round and made it all the way to the quarters. Teammate Maria-José Martina Sanchez scored a few upsets of her own in Melbourne, including over #32 Tamarine Tanasugarn in the first round.

But the Czechs are no slackers either. Lucie Safarova had been ranked as high as #22 last year, and though she's had ups and downs, she did notch wins over Samantha Stosur and Sybille Bammer this year. And Petra Kvitova and Iveta Benesova just battled each other in the finals at the Hobart Cup in January (Petra won). Their team only dropped one match in eliminating the Spaniards hope of improving on last year's results.



Italy vs. France

The most shocking score, I feel, came in the final Group I matchup.

France has a solid team -- Alize Cornet has seen her ranking rise steadily over the past year, from #56 last January to #13 now; Amelie Mauresmo has battled through some injuries, but still holds a respectable #24 position; and Nathalie Dechy and Severine Bremond are both accomplished players with some solid wins behind them

The Italians also have some tough players. Sara Errani beat Daniela Hantuchova in Brisbane and Maria Kirilenko in Melbourne. Flavia Pennetta scored two impressive wins over Venus Williams last year. And Francesca Schiavone has spent six straight years in the top thirty.

If any face-off was going to be close, it should have been this one.

But Italy was not intimidated by its neighbor. Amelie took an early lead in her match against Pennetta and Cornet put up a fight in the third against Schiavone, but the Italians went five-for-five for the right to meet the other undefeated team in the semis.



World Group II

In the other Fed Cup bracket eight additional teams were battling for the right to play next year. Former #1s Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic helped Serbia defeat Japan while Slovakia won their first round against Belgium, led by Hantuchova and Hopman Cup winner Dominika Cibulkova. Germany and the Ukraine were also victorious.

They will fight the losers from World Group I in April, and I promise I'll be watching for you!

Doubles, Doubles, Toil & Trouble

Halloween is fast approaching, and the ghouls and goblins are haunting the eerily quiet doubles' courts as paired players make their own bid to play for the year-end championships next week.

Both the women's Bell Challenge in Quebec and the men's BNP Masters in Paris feature some of the best talent in doubles -- even if they are overshadowed by their solo counterparts.

I've long been of the opinion that doubles tennis never gets the attention it deserves. To some extent it makes sense that the top players would eschew the doubles bracket in an effort to avoid potential injury and focus on their singles game. It's rare to see the matches broadcast, even during the major tournaments, unless it's the championship or there's a rain delay. Even at the high school level, doubles is relegated to the back courts while the "star" singles athletes get top billing.

But watching a real high-quality match can often be more dramatic and entertaining than anything two solo players can pull off on the court.

This year at the U.S. Open, I was able to watch Virginia Ruano Pascual and her partner Anabel Medina Garrigues take on Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. The Spaniards, seeded fifth at the tournament, were given a run for their money by the hometown -- or home-country -- favorites, losing the first set and being forced into a third set tiebreak before pulling out the win. But with hard-hitting volleys, multiple heart-pounding gets and reaction times that would rival the most skilled marksmen, there was no doubt that these ladies were working for their buck.

And while the very top singles players seldom make any real effort in doubles, usually happily languishing in the triple-digits for rankings, the opposite isn't always true. Katarina Srebotnik is currently ranked #3 in doubles and #21 in singles while Ai Sugiayama is #4 and #31 respectively. Jonas Bjorkman, currently part of the fifth best doubles team in the world, was once ranked as high as #4 on his own.

At the top of the women's game right now are Zimbabwe's Cara Black and the U.S.'s Liezel Huber. Together they've won a jaw-dropping nine title matches since January, including the U.S. Open -- Cara also took the mixed doubles championship in Flushing Meadows, beating her partner Liezel in straight sets. Incidentally, the #1 women's singles player, Jelena Jankovic, has won a relatively paltry four tournaments in 2008.



On the men's side all eyes are on the Bryan brothers, Mike and Bob, the twins who regained their #1 ranking after winning the U.S. Open in September. Bob pulled out of the Davis Cup semifinal match against Spain with a shoulder injury, but the two are back in top form in Paris this week, looking to capture their sixth title of the year.



Despite the dominance of both pairs in their respective fields, there is unfortunately a huge discrepancy in the rewards of both games. Jelena, for her four titles and no majors, has taken home $2.7 million this year just in prize money; Cara Black, including her take from the U.S. Open, has made only $730K. The Bryans together have earned a combined $1.5 million, less than a fourth of what Rafael Nadal has won. Sponsorships and endorsements, of course, add even more to the purse of singles players.

Every now and then you begin to hear rumblings that singles players should be required to enter the doubles draws at major tournaments. To an extent that happens at the Olympics, where Roger Federer won gold with Stanislas Wawrinka, and at Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches -- Mardy Fish stepped in for Bob Bryan against Spain, and actually won. And you occassionally see a pairing like Nadal and Argentina's Juan Monaco, who've already notched a first round win this week in Paris.



But what about the rest of the year?

Purely for the entertainment value I think there's a great argument for it -- imagine watching heavy hitters like Federer and Andy Roddick pounding down Nadal and James Blake. But even from a strategic standpoint I feel there is a benefit, forcing players who are traditionally content to wear down the baseline to develop a real serve-and-volley game and ultimately improve their overall play. Yes, the potential for injury or exhaustion is a concern, but isn't that just time they'd be spending on the court anyway?

And maybe a few recognizable names in the doubles draw is all the sport needs to get people interested.

So drive the ghosts off the courts, grab a couple of friends and get out there and play!

'Til then, I'm off to find myself a Halloween costume!

Happy Haunting!